The On-Demand Economy Brings Us Something Useful: Nature

Last year, Adam Banzhoff was living in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, working an IT job at a bank and feeling morose. “I was in a downswing, a little bit of a depression,” he tells me. Then one day, on a whim, he signed up for Horti, a new subscription service that ships members a plant every month. Soon a crispy wave fern arrived, a frisky-looking thing with rippling tendrils.

When the first new leaf appeared, it gave Banzhoff an electric thrill. He was hooked. A year later, between Horti's regular shipments and pots he bought on his own, Banzhoff had transformed his house into a riot of green, with more than 120 plants.